Automobile-wheel.



E. H. BUNDLE. AUTOMOBILE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, i913.

1,170,937- L Patented Feb.8,1916.

a I lmpamroz THE COLUMBIA LLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c,

.EDWARD BUNDLE, or' LoNGMonncoLoaAno.

To @ZZ whom t may concern,"

AUTOMoBILE-WHEEL.

H. BUNDLE, a

Be it known that LfEDwARD ".eiiizen of iii@ :United seines, residing .ai

Longmont, in'the countyl of Boulderl and ,State of Coloradofhaveinvented new -and useful Improvements in 'AutomobilelWheels,

. 4ofwhich the following is a specifica-tion. Y

. matic tires in general In general the made up of segmentssome of which' are hard y My inventionrelatesto improvements in therim and tire of yan automobile wheel, and

the object of my improvement is to provide a :cushion tire which will bedurable andjin operation have as near as may be the spring effect of afpneumatic rubber tire and be less expensive,

needless attention and care, of longer life than the ordinary rubberpneuuse on automobiles.

manner .that :the tire is fw'heel Abuilt in such nonelastic and theothers of elastic', compressible material, Aso arranged'that'compression upon any portion of the wheel'rim will be distributed throughout the circumference of .the .tire similar to the cushion provided by ran inflated pneumatic tire. n the drawings the sameletters and fig- VuresV of reference indicate corresponding Y"so parts in the vdierent vfigures.

Figure 1 is av semi-circular of' the assembled `constructionon a motor Ywheelfflhe right half othis figure isshown in ull figure front elevation, lhalf is shown iii section onthe. ,central vve'itical plane of the construction. l' The parts embraced within thesectors All and D show details ofthe wheel rim Vparts embraced within the `sectors if B and l Aillustrate details of the tire .and the the rim cylinders.

Isection taken on assembled construction, shown in the eX- pandedposition. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the rim and tire,.taken on line 2-2V of'Fig.

[ 1 through the4 centralradial plane ofoneof Fig. 3 is a similar crossline 3 3 of Fig. 'lion an eX-v `tended central radial plane of one' ofthe a sector detail onjcent'ral spokes.' Fig. 4i is vertical section showing vthe assembled con- 'Ystriiction in compressed ya ldetail in Vcentral vertical section of the T- vshaped tubular housing member. comprises Fig; 6 top-plan and side-elevation -oi ispecicaton of Letters Patent. i i

Appiieatimi filed september is, i913. Y serial ira-790,004.

.andf

nvention consists Vof a detail of 4 and the left only, and 'the position. Fig. 5 is` lone-.elastic expanding member. Fig. 7 com# prises lside Vand end elevation of oneexpandfing wedge 'n'uember.v Fig. 8 comprises side and end elevation'of one compressing wedge ritieni-.ea reis. s, ieie. y

member. Fig9 comprises side and end elevation of one elastic compressing member.

ANumber l iis a wheel frame of Vordinary wood spokes or other suitable construction. V 2 is the wheelrimV of special construction,

beingapproximately semi-circular in crosssection as' shown in Fig.` 3, and'- having rim cylindersor cups-extending inward radially lthefspokes oflthe wheel; these `cylinders or 'cups are shown at 3. lnside cups 3 are ad- .from the circumi'erenceV of.V the riml between ljustable 'disks 'or movable bottoms l which adjustment by set-screws 5. y

The portionl of the .construction thus far `described andrepresented by numerals from l to 5 constitutes the wheel without a-tire.

VSpoiids tothe; ordinary pneumatic wheel tire. The wheel rim 'may be constructed oi'pressed j steel or other's'uitable material and` may b e can be moved inward'or outward to proper "The part nowto be described constitutes my special composite` cushiontire which correconstructed in oney continuouspiece or made i Ain segme'nts tobe joined together in assemblingthe wheel. l 7

" The wheel tire consists generally 'of a sebase yextending'radially into the cups 3 andthe 'outside of the cross arm of theT' members Yrim vwith the the wheel.

suitable metallic construction with 'curved top Ior Vcross varm open at yits: ends 8 andj9. 'The base 7 of; the'Tis cylindrical and made 4tionof'cups' O the rim. f f 10,1which'ilfdesignate nl expanding block *lis acylindrifcal block ,of rubbervr or other compressible Vmaterial with plane bottomV and curvedtop as yshown in Fig., madeto lit beyond parti?? to lit into'thereduced portion oli cup 3 and rest upon the adjustableV bottom f4. Inside of :housing member `6 and' resting V'form the outer circumference and `Atread of' ries of 'T shaped tubular housing members 6 madeto rest linthe hollow or groove of the othefT shaped members 6 is la T shapedtubu'lar housing memberY of l to ftloosely in -the upper yor' 4eXpvanzded por- E 'i-'nto r'cylinder 7 ofV member Gand extending on the top or curved end of expanding block 10 is a hard wedge shaped block 11 of wood, fiber, or aluminum or other suitable material. This block has a circularcrosssection and is of less diameter than that of the top or cross arm of member 6 to allow movement of the wedge l1. 0n each side of wedge 11 and inside member 6 are hard blocks 12 of wood or other suitable material with beveled endspressed against wedge 11 block 12 in' the adjoining member. In the assembled position there is a clearance between end 8 of one member 6 and end 9 of the adjoining member toallow proper operation as hereinafter indicated.

On the outside periphery of the wheel is a continuous chain 14 which holdsthe as- Vsembled tire together and in place. ChainV 14 is indicated inthe drawings to consist of links on each side of the tire joined by cross tiesat their joints, the cross ties passing over the tread of the tire through grooves 14 shaped into members 6. Blocks 12 are properly grooved or beveled as shown in F ig. 8 to allow their proper movement past the depressions inside member 6 caused by the vgrooves 14. It is obvious that chain .14 may be constructed as an open link chain or other construction as may be best suited for the particular wheel and tire designed.

In operation when there is no pressure of load upon any portion of the wheel tire the T shaped tubular housing Vmembers 6 are held out against the chain 14 and away from the base of the groove of the wheel rim by the elastic expanding blocks 10 resting against the movable bottoms of cups 3, as shown in sectors B and C of Fig. 1. As the wheel turns and any one or two T members 6 rest upon the ground and bear the load the T members are pressed inward against expanding block 10 which holds and y forces expanding wedge member 11 outward between the compressing wedge members 12 spreading the two blocks 12 which in turn compress the. adjoining elastic connecting blocks 13 which transmit the force of impact and pressure of the load along the circumierence of the entire wheel and out against the binding chain 14 thus giving approximately the action of a pneumatic tire. Fig. 4 indicates the position of vparts in compressed position when the weight or load rests upon the segment shown in the figure.

I claim:

1. A wheel tire consisting of a series of tubular segments joined into a substantially continuo-us tire by elastic connecting blocks extending into adjacent open ends of said segments,each of said segments having an opening inits base with an elastic expanding block adapted to rest upon a wheel rim and extend into said tubular segment through said opening, with a lnon-elastic wedge inside said tubular segment adapted to spread said elastic connecting blocks when pressed by said elastic expanding block, substantially as described. j

2. In a wheel the combination of a grooved rim, a tire consisting of alternating elastic and non-elastic blocks, said non-elastic blocks being wedge shaped and adapted to wedge between said elastic blocks and spread said elastic blocks when Vpressed outward from said wheel rim, with elastic blocks between said wedges and said wheel rim, and means to hold said tire in assembled position, substantially as described.

3. rIhe combination in a wheel of a grooved rim having cups extending inward radially between the spokes of the wheel with a tire consisting of a seriesof T shapedtubular members, said T shaped members having their bases extending into said cups, elastic blocks extending into the bases of said T shaped members and resting on the bottoms of said cups, elastic blocks extending into the ends ofsaid T shaped members and a flexible chain extending around the outer periphery of said tire.

4. In a wheel the combination of a tire consisting of a series of T shaped tubular segments, each of said segments having in its base and extending out therefrom an elastic block adapted to rest upon the rim of the wheel, an expanding wedge member above said block with two l compressing wedge members resting against said expanding wedge member inside said tubular segment, elastic blocks resting against the outer ends of said expanding wedge members and extending out of the ends of saidtubular T segment and into the adjoining T segments ofthe tire, with a flexible chain binding said segments together, substantially as described.

5. In a wheel the combination of a groovedv Y rim with cups extending inwardly from said rim between the spokes of the wheel, with a tire consisting of T shaped tubular segments, the base of each segment adapted to extend into a cup in said rim, elastic expanding blocks adapted to fit into said cups and extend outward into the base of said T shaped segments, movable bottoms in said cups adapted to be adjusted by set screws in said cups, expanding wedge members in said T segments resting upon said elastic expanding blocks, compressing Wedge mema flexible chain binding said segments in the bers in said T segments at each side of said groove of said Wheel rim, substantially as expanding Wedge members, elastic connectdescribed.

ing blocks resting against the outer ends of Y EDWARD H. BUNDLE. said compressing Wedge members and ex- Witnessesz' tending out the ends of Said T member segv J. O. BISHOP,

ments and into the adjoining segments, with RAY RAPP.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingv the Commissioner of Patents, Y Washington, D. C. 

